


Becoming Immortal

by Priestlyislove



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Angst, Childhood Memories, First Kiss, Growing Old, Heart Attacks, M/M, Suicide, everyone dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 23:44:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7128872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Priestlyislove/pseuds/Priestlyislove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are some things that are out of the gang's control. </p>
<p>Mac reminiscences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Becoming Immortal

It was Charlie. It was always going to be Charlie.

Somewhere, deep in the recesses of Mac’s mind where he rarely went, he knew this. He had been trying to ignore that feeling, but as the years continued to work against them, it became harder to push away. They were fighting a war against time with their eyes closed because they knew they were going to lose. That was one thing Mac liked about the gang, he supposed. They never stopped fighting even when the odds were impossible. And they would lose, but at least they tried.

So they didn’t say anything when Mac couldn’t do Project Badass anymore. They looked away when Dennis had a panic attack in the bathroom, trying to claw out his hair because it was going gray. They bit their tongues when Frank couldn’t run with them.

But when Charlie collapsed, their walls started to crumble. He was so resilient, after everything he had been put through, they didn’t think that his heart was what was going to take him down. He never took care of himself, so it made sense. But he had taken a thousand beatings, he had drank a thousand beers, they couldn’t imagine him ever dying.

The hospital’s air suffocated Mac. He hated this place. He wanted to burn it down, with him and Dennis and Charlie inside. Then they’d be together, and they wouldn’t have to worry about doctors or IVs or _heart monitors_. That was the worst part. The little line shot up, and down, and up, and down, and they just had to wait for it to stop. There was nothing they could do but wait.

He sat in a chair across from Charlie, watching him with vacant eyes. His mind was back when they were kids and they went skipping rocks. The game had quickly devolved into throwing rocks at each other, and they both went home somewhat bruised. Charlie had gotten all muddy because he saw a frog and went in after it.

Dennis came back into the room. He acted like he was calm, but his face was pale and he wouldn’t stop trembling. “So what are we going to do?” Dennis rarely asked this of Mac. He only did it when he was feeling helpless. It made him sound like a kid again. Mac thought about when they first went out for pizza as a trio. Dennis got a glass of water dumped on him by an ex and Charlie laughed so hard he choked for two minutes.

“What do you think we’re gonna do?” Mac spoke stalely. He continued to stare forward, not really looking at Charlie. “We’re gonna die.”

Dennis nodded. “I know. Yeah, I know. I know.” He was nervous. He was a wreck, if Mac was honest with himself. Patches of hair were still missing and his eyes were bloodshot. Mac couldn’t find himself loving him any less. “But how?”

Mac thought about Charlie’s first kiss, when he had come running back to Mac to proudly retell the feat. Charlie later confessed that it was kind of gross and he didn’t really want to do it again. Mac didn’t want to die without having ever kissed a guy. He just wanted to know what it was like, but he didn’t want to anger God. He glanced at Dennis.

“Obviously we can’t crash the car, because we’d have to get Charlie out of here. If we shot him, they’d hear. They would stop us before we managed to off each other,” Dennis rambled.

“Poison.” Mac hardly whispered. He spoke louder, “I think we should use poison. Do you still have it with you?”

Dennis nodded again, licking his dry lips. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a tiny vial. Mac didn’t need to ask where he got it, because he knew what it was for. Everything Dennis ever did was in preparation for today.

“Should we get Dee?” Mac shifted in his seat. “What about Frank?”

Dennis shook his head. “If they want to die, they can do it on their own time. We’ve got to be quick. Who knows how long we have.” His eyes found their way to Charlie. He looked away. It was evident on his face he was still having trouble accepting the whole situation.

Mac held out his hand. “I’ll go first.” Dennis handed it to him.

“If, uh, if you swallow before I do, I’ll kick your ass in hell.” He laughed nervously, wringing his hands together. Mac knew Dennis had never been scared of dying, but the idea of being alone paralyzed him.

“Alright.” He threw his head back, letting the liquid fill his mouth. He didn’t stop when there was half a bottle left, or a third of the bottle.

“Hey, slow down asshole, leave some for me.” Dennis furrowed his brow. Mac handed the vial over. Dennis flipped it over in his hand. “It’s empty, dipshit. Now I’m gonna have to…” Realization crossed his face. He smiled at Mac. For once, it wasn’t condescending or cruel. It was just sort of sad. “I wish you told me sooner.”

Dennis stepped closer, grabbing Mac’s hand in his own. He kissed him, gently pressing their lips together until Mac opened his mouth. The poison flooded past his lips. They kissed for just a moment longer, silently begging for just a moment longer. Their desire to live forever wrapped in each other’s arms fell upon Time’s deaf ears.

Slowly, they pulled away from each other. They stared at each other, still grasping hands firmly. Dennis cried. Mac closed his eyes. If only they could’ve said “I love you.” Maybe that would’ve made it easier.

The steady orchestra of the heart monitor came to stop. There would be no encore. They swallowed.

 Mac let himself open his eyes one last time as they fell to the ground. He took in Dennis’ features one last time. His eyelids felt impossibly heavy, so he let them close.

He remembered going to see the fireworks with Dennis and Charlie. It was one of those rare moments were they didn’t fight or try to prove their masculinity. There were no ulterior motives or tricks. They had just sat in the grass and held hands. And as Dennis and Charlie absentmindedly picked at a funnel cake, as the sky lit up with reds and blues, Mac silently prayed that the night would never end.

He smiled.


End file.
